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Welf. & Inst. Code, § 4502 · Chapter 1.3. Persons With Developmental Disabilities Bill of Rights

Welf. & Inst. Code, § 4502

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

(a) Persons with developmental disabilities have the same legal rights and responsibilities guaranteed all other individuals by the United States Constitution and laws and the Constitution and laws of the State of California. An otherwise qualified person by reason of having a developmental disability shall not be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity that receives public funds.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that persons with developmental disabilities shall have rights including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) A right to treatment and habilitation services and supports in the least restrictive environment. Treatment and habilitation services and supports should foster the developmental potential of the person and be directed toward the achievement of the most independent, productive, and normal lives possible. Such services shall protect the personal liberty of the individual and shall be provided with the least restrictive conditions necessary to achieve the purposes of the treatment, services, or supports.

(2) A right to dignity, privacy, and humane care. To the maximum extent possible, treatment, services, and supports shall be provided in natural community settings.

(3) A right to participate in an appropriate program of publicly supported education, regardless of degree of disability.

(4) A right to prompt medical care and treatment.

(5) A right to religious freedom and practice.

(6) A right to social interaction and participation in community activities.

(7) A right to physical exercise and recreational opportunities.

(8) A right to be free from harm, including unnecessary physical restraint, or isolation, excessive medication, abuse, or neglect.

(9) A right to be free from hazardous procedures.

(10) A right to make choices in their own lives, including, but not limited to, where and with whom they live, their relationships with people in their community, the way they spend their time, including education, employment, and leisure, the pursuit of their personal future, and program planning and implementation.

(11) A right to a prompt investigation of any alleged abuse against them.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 178, Sec. 3. (AB 1687) Effective January 1, 2015.

Source of truth

Edition
As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
Official file
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=WIC&sectionNum=4502.
Text hash
sha256 277136518b9520f30321dd86b3e7f79a4188870d75125dbd7d22d0dc7aa59a8b
Composed by
compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section

Cited by 11 provisions

Provisions in this library whose text cites Welf. & Inst. Code, § 4502. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.